WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump did not do his friend Rick Scott any favors when the administration Thursday unveiled plans to open up 90 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf off the U.S. coast – including Florida.

Florida’s Republican governor was quick to register his opposition to the plan.

“I have already asked to immediately meet with Secretary (Ryan) Zinke to discuss the concerns I have with this plan and the crucial need to remove Florida from consideration,” Scott said in a statement even before the announcement was official. “My top priority is to ensure that Florida’s natural resources are protected, which is why I proposed $1.7 billion for the environment in this year’s budget.”

Scott is widely expected to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is seeking re-election to a fourth term in November, in what would be one of the nation’s most expensive and watched Senate races.

Nelson blasted the proposal laid out by Zinke and vowed to stop it, citing the importance of beach-related tourism to the state’s economy and the interference drilling activity would impose on exercises conducted by military installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This plan is an assault on Florida’s economy, our national security, the will of the public and the environment,” he said. “This proposal defies all common sense and I will do everything I can to defeat it.”

Nelson will likely spend the better part of next year telling Florida voters how bad such a policy would be for their state.

Scott, meanwhile, will have to work harder to separate himself from the proposal since many Floridians view the governor as being personally and politically close to the president.

Polls suggest it could be a potent issue for Nelson.

State residents are increasingly opposed to offshore drilling, according to the University of South Florida-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey. The annual poll showed 44 percent support for the activity in 2014 with 39 percent opposed.in 2016, 47 percent opposed off-shore drilling compared to 32 percent who supported it.

Florida impact of Sessions edict on marijuana hazy

It’s not exactly clear how Florida will be treated now that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided to rescind Obama administration policies not to interfere with state laws allowing people to use pot for medical and recreational uses.

Sessions characterized the change as a “return to the rule of law” in a memo issued Thursday.

But federal officials could not answer whether people selling or using marijuana in states like Florida, where it's considered legal for medicinal use, would now be more at risk of prosecution.

And GOP Gov. Rick Scott told reporters his administration will review the order.

“My job is to try to make sure we always comply with state local and federal laws,” he said Thursday.

Testing the pot waters(Photo: Andy Marlette)

For now, the state is not planning any wholesale changes.

“We will review any changes to federal policy and continue to follow Florida law,” Mara Gambineri, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health, said Friday.

The Obama policy was crafted in 2013 and represented a major breakthrough by advocates for the decriminalization of marijuana use. It did not change marijuana's federal classification as an illegal drug. But it effectively discouraged the pursuit of nonviolent marijuana users who have no links to criminal gangs or cartel operations.

In 2016, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved – 71 percent to 29 percent – the use of medical cannabis as a treatment option for people with certain illnesses and conditions including cancer, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Legislature approved rules in June that the state Health Department has been implementing.

Sessions has long signaled his disagreement with the previous administration's stance on pot. But the spare, one-page document did not contain any new specific guidelines for how the policy change would be enforced. It only indicated that the marijuana guidance issued by the previous administration was unnecessary.

"This memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion,” Sessions said in the memo.

The policy shift spurred outrage from several Capitol Hill lawmakers, including GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz who represents the Florida Panhandle.

“It is a step backward for the American people,” Gaetz tweeted. “When Congress passes new spending bills, I will fight this misguided plan. Prosecute criminals, not patients!”

I am extremely disappointed that AG Sessions is rescinding medical cannabis protections; it is a step backward for the American people. When Congress passes new spending bills, I will fight this misguided plan. Prosecute criminals, not patients!https://t.co/eklRBR5SXL

High court to hear decades-long water battle between Georgia and Florida

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments over the decades-long battle between Georgia and Florida over who controls the water rights of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, an important milestone in an interstate dispute that’s lasted decades.

At issue is whether Georgia officials have the authority to keep redirecting water to help lubricate the growth of metro Atlanta or whether Florida has the right to the water it says is crucial to its ecological and economic needs.

The 19,500-square-mile basin sends water over rivers across Georgia, Florida and Alabama before draining into Florida’s Apalachicola Bay. Alabama has also sued Georgia in the past as part of the “water wars” but is not part of this particular challenge.

Florida’s latest challenge for greater access to the water was spurred by a drought and the collapse of its oyster fishery in 2012.

A special federal master appointed by the Supreme Court ruled in 2017 in favor of Georgia. Florida officials are hoping the nation’s highest court gives them a better shake.

“We know that the misuse of water by Georgia has caused the Apalachicola River, bay and basin real ecological and economic damage,” said Dan Tonsmeire, who spent 14 years as the Apalachicola Riverkeeper. “This misuse of water in the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers must be addressed, so the ecosystem and economy can recover.”